skogstokig said:

wasn't it until 2007? the had it in taiwan and manila a couple of years after cardiff. so eight years?

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Yes. I did not remember that Matchroom moved it to Asia for four years after Cardiff.

To my minds eye, I have always seen Joel Hercek as the masterclass example when it comes the the best "Top Tier" finish on a cue.

There are certainly those who are as good as Joel, but I have not seen anyone do it better. I am talking inspection in person not photos which can make a finish look better with the correct lighting, lens angle and photo tweaking.

Barry Szamboti is also right there with Joel's performance finish me thinks!

Here is some of my thoughts after studying this process a very long time!

What i have learned in my 22 years of spray finishing cues is, the faster the material cures the better for you end result, because the longer cure times seen on Concept Type Show Automotive finishs tend the reveal shrinkage at certin areas of a cue. Remember those finishes are designed for metal panels and are not touched after spraying for a cure time of 30 days or much longer.

Using a laser temp monitor, I keep my, shop, booth, clearcoat, butt and shafts a exactly 80 degrees and maintain my moisture level in my compressed air system and filters at a wet bulb reading well under 5% relative humidity. Moisture is a killer.

Using high solids and very fast curing spot pannel finishes then doing a force cure at 110 degrees for 40 mins in the booth after waiting for double the flash time after final coat produces a very hard finish without shrinkage. The adheasion coats I apply to the bare wood is over .007 per side and eventually gets sanded to roughly .004 per side before prepping for spraying. This foundation is very important to me concering durability. A clearcoat applied over just a sealer tends to dent easily for lack of a solid substrait IMO.

I wet sand up to 12000 micromesh without spinning then using 12 inch buffing wheels at 1100 rpm delivers as close to Joel's standard as i have discovered.

A very hard product takes me 3 times the amount of time to get it to really light up with light polishing pressure making sure to avoid buffing wheel heat. Patience Grasshppoer is the key here!

I buff in 3 specific stages allow time between stages involving 2 dry clay bar apps, then only one light action using Mensura 3800 polish for the final step.

The 1100 rpm special buffing wheel motor and 12" wheel is a big deal that should not be discounted. Using a homemade set up with a 1750 rpm typical motor can cause problems in a New York second. Feeds, speeds and descrete wheel pressure is critical. I never cut with the wheel only buff as I have prepped the surface with wet 12000 grit micro mesh only going north and south. No swirls means no cutting needed with the flannel wheel for 2 dry claybars , only light polishing.

I played in the American Straight Pool Championship at Diamond Billiards in Richmond, VA, around....2013ish? It was filled with monsters (see attached photo). Karen played SO superb, dusting off champion after champion and ended up taking second place to Darren Appleton. She was something else!

I'm just a C+ player, but my friends who owned Diamond Billiards were kind enough to ask if "I" wanted to play (they knew I liked straight pool), so they sponsored me into the tourney. I was excited! Got to chat with Darren a little bit, a real gent! I forget the first pro I played, but he beat me handily. The second guy I played was the great champion Mike Davis. So, first of all, we are playing in front of a big crowd (most of which are my friends I play and match up with every day). They're there for half moral support - half to shark me. But it was funny.

I break, we have a lengthy safety battle, and I get to the first shot. I run a clean 14, leave a nice break shot..I'm off and running. And I'm strutting around the table like I'm going to run 100, and my pals are laughing and cheering me on. My sponsors were watching and I had to do "something". I make the break shot, run another 12 or 13, and then play safe. I didn't make another point the rest of the game, LOL! But, I was proud of my little 26 in a pro tournament.

The last guy I played, same story. He was an older gent from New York, but he was a stone cold straight pool champion and he took third in the tournament! Same exact scenario, though. I get to the first shot, run like a 25...and then never score another point. But, I was proud of my performance. I was definitely outclassed, but didn't dog it. I'll never forget that experience. I've attached a photo from the event. I'm in that little crowd, somewhere.

Up with pics for answers to questions about the cue.